S. Korea to restrict visa issuance, arrivals from 8 African countries over new virus variant

South Korea said Saturday that it will restrict visa issuance and arrivals from eight African nations, including South Africa, starting the next day to block the inflow of the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. It said South Africa and seven other nearby countries -- Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi -- will be re-listed as closely watched nations, subject to visa restrictions and tougher quarantine requirements. All arrivals from those regions m

Social AffairsNov. 28, 2021

Natl. Assembly speaker asks Oman, Bahrain to export urea solution to S. Korea

MADRID -- National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held meetings with his counterparts from Oman and Bahrain on Saturday during which he asked the two Middle East nations to export urea solution to South Korea. The meeting came as South Korea is scrambling to secure urea solution, the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions, after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. Park, who is in Madrid to attend the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Asse

PoliticsNov. 28, 2021

Daily cases drop below 4,000; deaths, critical cases hit record highs

South Korea's new coronavirus cases dropped below 4,000 on Sunday, but the number of deaths and critically ill patients hit fresh highs, spawning concerns about the further spread of COVID-19 under eased virus restrictions meant for a gradual return to normal life. The country reported 3,928 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,893 local infections, raising the total caseload to 440,896, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally was down from 4,068 on Saturday b

Social AffairsNov. 28, 2021

[Photo News] Black Friday shopping spree

On Black Friday, which refers to the day after Thanksgiving in the US, stores there typically offer goods at highly discounted prices. In recent years, retailers have tended to prolong the duration of the promotion, cutting prices before Thanksgiving even starts. Korean online shoppers have bought enormous amounts of products directly from foreign websites in the past few days. Due to the Black Friday shopping spree, packages containing a variety of goods shipped from the US were piling up at

Social AffairsNov. 27, 2021

[Weekender] Exam skills won’t help you survive ‘Squid Game’

In the Netflix smash hit “Squid Game,” there is a line that resonates with most South Koreans: While boasting that she is street-smart and capable, the self-proclaimed silver-tongued Mi-nyeo says, “I’m totally smart. I just never studied.” The line stems from the widespread belief -- not just here but in many other parts of the world -- that being brainy and doing well on school exams are not necessarily the same. But in a country where 12 years of schooling can

Social AffairsNov. 27, 2021

Ex-justice questioned over suspicion of helping clear Lee of election law breach

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned a former Supreme Court justice suspected of having helped clear Lee Jae-myung, now the ruling Democratic Party's presidential nominee, of an election law violation charge last year in return for a post-retirement job. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office brought in Kwon Soon-il, sources said, as investigators are accelerating a probe into a high-profile urban development corruption scandal involving an asset management firm, called Hwacheon Daeyu A

Social AffairsNov. 27, 2021

Military reports 9 more COVID-19 cases

South Korea's military reported nine additional COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,273. Among the new cases, a draftee of an Army unit in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, and another in Pocheon, 50 km northeast of Seoul, tested positive before and after their return to the units from vacation, respectively. An officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul contracted the virus after a family member was infected. The other cases include an of

Social AffairsNov. 27, 2021

Daily cases bounce back above 4,000, deaths hit record high

South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose above 4,000 with the numbers of deaths and critically ill patients hitting fresh record highs Saturday, deepening worries about the further spread of COVID-19 under a phased scheme for a gradual return to normal life. The country reported 4,068 new COVID-19 cases, including 4,045 local infections, raising the total caseload to 436,968, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number was up 167 from 3,901 on Friday but down fro

Social AffairsNov. 27, 2021

Late ex-President Chun's wife apologizes for 'pains, scars' inflicted during his presidency

The wife of late former President Chun Doo-hwan, widely criticized for the bloody crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju, issued an apology on Saturday for the "pains and scars" inflicted during his presidency. Lee Soon-ja made the apology in the first such move by Chun's family, as the bereaved family was preparing to carry his coffin out of a hospital in Seoul. Chun died Tuesday at age 90 from chronic ailments. "On behalf of my husband

PoliticsNov. 27, 2021

COVID-19 infection rates among teenagers outpaces those for adults in S. Korea

The rate of COVID-19 infection among those aged 18 and under has surpassed that of adults, according to government data. Amid the increasing number of new coronavirus infections among young people, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae asked parents to get their children vaccinated. The minister’s request came as concerns over children’s infections have mounted, particularly after the government allowed all schools across the country to resume full-time in-person classes this month. Yo

Social AffairsNov. 26, 2021

Life sentence commuted to 35 years for adoptive mother in toddler murder case

An appellate court on Friday reversed a local court’s ruling of life imprisonment for an adoptive mother who murdered her toddler daughter, to a sentence of 35 years in prison, citing lack of proof for “such a heavy sentence.” The court upheld the lower court’s ruling of a five-year prison sentence for the adoptive father, holding him responsible for child abuse in the highly publicized case. The Seoul High Court admitted that the mother, surnamed Jang, is guilty of m

Social AffairsNov. 26, 2021

S. Korea may introduce toughened antivirus measures next week

The South Korean government has decided to postpone announcing an emergency COVID-19 response plan until Monday, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. The minister’s announcement followed a government meeting on Thursday, where health authorities discussed the possibility of reintroducing toughened measures to contain the resurgence of the coronavirus. They, however, failed to come to a conclusion and have delayed the announcement. On Friday, the country reported 3,901 new COVID

Social AffairsNov. 26, 2021

S. Korean, US defense chiefs to discuss OPCON transfer, China

South Korean and US defense ministers will discuss a wide range of security and alliance issues, from the transfer of wartime operational control to challenges posed by China and North Korea. South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are set to host the 53rd ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul on Thursday. The US high-ranking officers, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacif

DefenseNov. 26, 2021

Left out: Vaccinated foreigners in S. Korea face ‘discrimination,’ restrictions

Daniel, a 33-year old Canadian working as a university professor in Seoul, had no other option but to spend 10 days alone at home in July after returning from a three-month trip to Canada. “I went to Canada in April to attend my grandmother’s funeral and spent much time with relatives and friends, while receiving both shots of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine there. The thing is, when I was getting ready to return to Korea, I was told by the Korean Embassy in Toronto that I wasn’t elig

Social AffairsNov. 26, 2021

Moon appoints two deputy chiefs of spy agency

President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed two deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the presidential office said. Moon appointed Park Sun-won, head of the NIS's planning and coordination office, as the first deputy director, while choosing Chun Se-young, senior official at the NIS's counter-espionage team, as the second deputy director. The first deputy director is tasked with gleaning intelligence on North Korea and overseas affairs, while the second deputy director is

PoliticsNov. 26, 2021

Yoon, Lee neck and neck at 42% vs 39.8%: survey

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, is neck and neck with ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent support against 39.8 percent, a survey showed Friday. The difference between the two was 2.2 percentage points, which was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, according to the survey of 1,005 adults conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by the Korea Society Opinion Instit

PoliticsNov. 26, 2021

900 victims of 1980 Gwangju crackdown file damage suit against govt.

Some 900 victims of the brutal crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju launched a damage suit against the government Friday, a law firm said, days after the death of former President Chun Doo-hwan, accused of ordering the crackdown. LKB & Partners said it has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs who were subject to brutal violence by soldiers during the democracy protests in May 1980 in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to demand the govern

Social AffairsNov. 26, 2021

Yoon slams government's nuclear phase-out scheme

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), on Friday slammed the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, calling it "disaster caused from ignorance." The nuclear phase-out scheme set by Moon's government centers on slowly breaking away from nuclear energy by refraining from building additional plants while retiring old ones. Under the roadmap, South Korea plans to decrease the number of nuclear plants in operation to 17 b

PoliticsNov. 26, 2021

Lee pledges more subsidies for electric vehicles

Ruling Democratic Party presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung pledged Friday to expand government subsidies for the electric vehicle industry and increase the production of the cars. In a Facebook post, Lee said government subsidies have fallen far short of the amount needed to produce enough EVs to meet consumer demand. He noted the biggest obstacles to getting more EVs on roads are their high price and lack of charging facilities. "I will drastically expand the scope of subsidies in order

PoliticsNov. 26, 2021

Seoul monitoring N. Korea's nuclear, missile activities: unification ministry

South Korea is monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile activities in close cooperation with the United States, the unification ministry said Friday, following reports the North appears to be continuing the operation of a nuclear reactor at its mainstay Yongbyon complex. 38 North, a US monitoring website, said Wednesday steam was detected emanating from the 5-megawatt reactor in an indication at least one generator is in operation, citing recent satellite imagery. Asked to comment on the r

North KoreaNov. 26, 2021